973.7L63 
B4St28a 


Starr,  John  William 

Abraham  Lincoln's 
Religion:  in  his  eldest 
son  * s  estimation 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 

MEMORIAL 

the  class  of  1901 


founded  by 
HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 
and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


p  :  :   —    a  > a 


Abraham  Lincoln's   Religion    „ 


-in- 


His  Eldest  Sons  Estimation 

By  John  W.  Starr,  Jr. 


^ 


Privately  Printed 
1926 


1 


\ 


«  " * & -'■  « 


Abraham  Lincoln  s  Religion  in   His   Eldest 
Son's  Estimation 

By  John  W.  Starr,  Jr. 


The  recent  death  of  Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln  has  caused  the 
mind  of  the  present  writer  to  revert  back  to  a  period  of  almost  two 
decades  ago  on  account  of  an  incident  which  left  its  impress  at 
that  time. 

As  a  student  of  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln  I  have  always 
been  particularly  interested  in  his  religious  opinions  and  beliefs  or 
disbeliefs.  At  the  time  of  which  I  write  I  corresponded  rather  ex- 
tensively with  those  of  the  Lincoln  fraternity  who  might  throw 
light  upon  this  subject  which  has  been  debated  ever  since  our 
First  American  ran  for  Congress  in  1846.  Those  of  his  Springfield 
and  Washington  friends  then  living,  including  two  of  his  law  stu- 
dents and  one  of  his  secretaries,  attaches  of  the  White  House  dur- 
ing his  administration,  telegraphers  of  the  War  Department  com- 
ing into  daily  contact  with  him  and  artists  who  painted  his 
portrait ;  biographers  and  other  writers ;  collectors  and  book  deal- 
ers making  a  specialty  of  Lincolniana  were  addressed  and  this 
resulted  in  a  file  of  about  seventy-five  communications  setting 
forth  the  views  of  the  writers  at  greater  or  lesser  length  and  many 
and  varied  were  the  opinions  expressed. 

Among  those  prized  most  highly  is  a  letter  from  Robert  T. 
Lincoln,  then  connected  with  the  Pullman  Company  of  Chicago,  in 
which  it  was  stated  that  the  views  of  his  father's  opinions  on  the 
subject  which  he  considered  most  satisfactory  were  those  given  by 
Isaac  N.  Arnold  in  his  biography  of  President  Lincoln. 

He  further  stated  that  this  was  for  my  private  information 
and  not  publication,  as  he  had  been  careful  to  refrain  from  entering 
into  any  discussion  about  his  father,  or  permitting  himself  to  be 
quoted  concerning  him  during  the  many  years  which  had  elapsed 
since  his  father's  death,  and  of  all  the  replies  received  this  was  the 
only  one  which  enjoined  secrecy. 


cf  7^,  7Z  (o  3  weal  tJ    /Co o  h^ 

Hovever,  it  has  occurred  to  me  that  now  that  Mr.  Robert 
Lincoln  is  gone,  this  tacit  understanding  is  removed  and  this  infor- 
mation should  be  given  publicity  for  the  benefit  of  those  interested 
in  Abraham  Lincoln. 

Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  whom  Miss  Tarbell  refers  to  as  "one  of 
the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  Chicago  bar,"  was,  in  all 
probability  one  of  the  most  intimate  friends  that  Abraham  Lincoln 
had,  in-so-far  as  he  permitted  that  intimacy  to  exist  between  him 
and  another. 

Judge  Fish's  bibliography  of  Lincolniana  lists  eight  books  and 
pamphlets  from  the  pen  of  Arnold.  He  was  also  author  of  other 
literature  dealing  with  the  same  subject. 

During  the  Civil  War,  while  a  member  of  Congress  from  Ill- 
inois, Mr.  Arnold  began  his  compilation  of  "The  History  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  and  the  Overthrow  of  Slavery,"  a  pretentious  volume 
of  over  seven  hundred  pages  published  in  1866. 

In  1881,  as  an  Honorary  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Historical 
Society,  he  read  in  London  a  paper  on  Abraham  Lincoln  which  has 
been  issued  in  several  different  editions. 

But  the  crowning  achievement  of  his  life  was  a  "Life  of 
Abraham  Lincoln"  first  published  in  1884,  and  it  is  to  this  work 
which  Robert  Lincoln  referred.  It  should  be  remarked  in  passing 
that  this  is  one  of  the  comparatively  few  biographies  of  the  past 
which  has  survived  more  than  a  contemporary  interest,  for  it  is 
still  published,  bearing  testimony  to  an  intrinsic  worth,  and  I  be- 
lieve that  the  most  expensive  item  in  my  collection  of  Lincolniana 
is  an  extra  illustrated  two-volume  set  bound  in  half  morocco. 

Hon.  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  another  Illinois  statesman,  called 
the  "Watch-dog  of  the  Treasury"  and  "Father  of  the  House,"  said 
in  referring  to  the  latter  biography,  that  "Mr.  Arnold  has  shown 
in  his  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln  that  he  has  a  full  and  just  appreciation  of 
the  true  province  of  history. 

"Few  had  known  Mr.  Lincoln  better  than  Mr.  Arnold,  and  no 
man  was  more  familiar  with  his  life,  or  had  studied  more  pro- 
foundly his  personal  and  political  character  or  his  public  career. 
They  had  been  personal  friends  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.    They 


were  much  together  in  the  courts  and  often  associated  in  the  trial 
of  causes,  and  had  been  opposing  counsel  in  important  litigation. 
Their  long  acquaintance  and  association  had  made  them  to  know 
each  other  well,  and  had  engendered  mutual  respect  and  mutual  re- 
gard. 

"From  the  time  that  Mr.  Arnold  entered  Congress,  at  the 
breaking  out  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  he  became  one  of  the 
most  trusted  advisers  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  few  men  outside  of  the 
Cabinet  were  more  frequently  consulted  by  him  in  important  mat- 
ters. No  one  knew  better  Mr.  Lincoln's  thoughts  and  intentions 
than  Mr.  Arnold,  and  no  one  enjoyed  his  confidence  to  a  higher 
degree.  It  may  be  truly  said  that  no  man  was  better  qualified  to 
write  a  serious  and  authoritative  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  to  en- 
lighten the  public  in  respect  to  the  character,  career  and  services 
of  that  illustrious  man." 

Col.  A.  K.  McClure  has  borne  testimony  to  the  fact  that 
President  Lincoln  told  him  of  all  the  Republican  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  there  was  but  one  member  in  whose  per- 
sonal and  political  frindship  he  had  absolute  faith,  and  that  was 
Congressman  Arnold;  and  Dr.  Wm.  E.  Barton  has  narrated  how 
upon  one  occasion  when  a  visitor  at  Washington  asked  the  eccen- 
tric Thaddeus  Stevens  to  be  introduced  to  some  of  the  President's 
supporters,  Stevens  took  him  to  Arnold's  desk,  saying  that  as  the 
visitor  wanted  to  meet  the  members  of  Congress  who  were  in 
sympathy  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  so  far  as  he  knew  Arnold  was 
the  only  man  in  the  lower  House  who  belonged  in  that  group. 

In  1864  when  the  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution 
abolishing  and  prohibiting  slavery  was  being  agitated  in  Congress, 
Dr.  Barton  says  that  during  the  debate  "it  is  probable  that  no  one 
in  the  House  of  Representatives  stood  closer  to  Lincoln  than  Hon- 
orable Isaac  N.  Arnold,  of  Illinois." 

Lincoln's  own  secretaries,  Nicolay  and  Hay,  refer  to  Arnold 
as  "an  intimate  and  valued  friend  of  the  President,"  and  while  in 
1864  Lincoln  pursued  a  "hands-off"  policy  towards  the  various 
Congressional  aspirants,  he  did  take  cognizance  of  the  antagonism 
existing  between  Arnold  and  Postmaster  Scripps  of  Chicago,  the 
latter  being  the  author  of  the  famous  campaign  biography  of  1860 
bearing  his  name,  and  a  friend  to  whom  he  was  greatly  indebted 


politically.  He  addressed  a  communication  to  Mr.  Scripps  stating 
that  he  was  "well  satisfied  with  Mr.  Arnold  as  a  member  of  Con- 
gress" and  in  addition  wrote  to  Arnold  that  "I  take  it  your  de- 
votion to  the  Union  and  the  administration  cannot  be  questioned 
by  any  sincere  man."  And  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  last  re- 
marks of  President  Lincoln  as  he  stepped  into  the  carriage  to  con- 
vey him  to  the  theatre  April  14th,  1865,  were  addressed  to  his  old 
Illinois  friend  asking  him  to  call  on  the  morrow. 

With  this  evidence  before  us,  it  seems  conclusive  that  Mr. 
Arnold  would  be  in  a  position  to  form  a  just  estimate  and  that 
Abraham  Lincoln's  son  in  coinciding  with  the  viewpoint  of  the 
Illinois  attorney  and  Congressman  has  placed  a  double  value 
upon  it. 

Just  what  has  Mr.  Arnold  said  on  this  question? 

"It  is  very  strange,"  he  wrote  in  his  summary  of  the  character 
of  the  martyr  President,  "that  any  reader  of  Lincoln's  speeches 
and  writings  should  have  the  hardihood  to  charge  him  with  a  want 
of  religious  feeling. 

"No  more  reverent  Christian  than  he  ever  sat  in  the  executive 
chair;  not  excepting  Washington,"  he  goes  on,  elaborating  on  his 
thesis. 

"He  was  by  nature  religious ;  full  of  religious  sentiment.  The 
veil  between  him  and  the  supernatural  was  very  thin.  It  is  not 
claimed  that  he  was  orthodox.  For  creeds  and  dogmas  he  cared 
little.  But  in  the  great  fundamental  principles  of  religion,  of  the 
Christian  religion,  he  was  a  firm  believer.  Belief  in  the  existence 
of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  in  the  Bible  as  the  revelation 
of  God  to  man,  in  the  efficacy  and  duty  of  prayer,  in  reverence 
towards  the  Almighty,  and  in  love  and  charity  to  man,  was  the 
basis  of  his  religion. 

"From  the  time  he  left  Springfield  to  his  death  he  not  only 
himself  continually  prayed  for  divine  assistance,  but  constantly 
asked  the  prayers  of  his  friends  for  himself  and  his  country. 
Declarations  of  his  trust  in  God  and  his  belief  in  the  efficacy  of 
prayer  pervade  his  state  papers,  letters  and  speeches.  Pages  of 
quotations  showing  this  might  be  furnished.     His  reply  to  the 


negroes  of  Baltimore  when  they,  in  1864,  presented  him  with  a 
magnificent  Bible,  ought  to  silence  forever  those  who  charge  him 
with  unbelief.  He  said:  'In  regard  to  the  Great  Book  I  have  only 
to  say,  that  it  is  the  best  gift  which  God  has  given  to  man.  All  the 
good  from  the  Savior  of  the  world  is  communicated  through  this 
book/ 

"In  a  letter  written  January  12th,  1851,  when  his  father  was 
dangerously  ill,  he  says :  'I  sincerely  hope  father  may  yet  recover 
his  health,  but  at  all  events  tell  him  to  remember  to  call  upon  and 
confide  in  our  great  and  good  and  merciful  maker,  who  will  not 
turn  any  from  him  in  any  extremity.  He  notes  the  fall  of  a  spar- 
row, and  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  heads.  He  will  not  forget  the 
dying  man  who  puts  his  trust  in  Him.  Say  to  him  if  it  be  his  lot 
to  go  now,  he  will  soon  have  a  joyous  meeting  with  loved  ones 
gone  before,  and  where  the  rest  of  us,  through  the  help  of  God, 
hope  ere  long  to  join  him.' 

"To  a  friend,  who  inquired  why,  with  his  marked  religious 
character,  he  did  not  unite  with  some  church  organization,  Lincoln 
replied :  'I  have  never  united  myself  to  any  church,  because  I  found 
difficulty  in  giving  my  assent,  without  mental  reservation,  to  the 
long  and  complicated  statements  of  Christian  doctrine  which 
characterize  their  articles  of  belief  and  confessions  of  faith.  When 
any  church  will  inscribe  over  its  altar,  as  its  sole  qualification  for 
membership,  the  Savior's  condensed  statement  of  the  substance 
of  both  law  and  gospel:  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart,  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself,"  that  church  shall  I  join  with  all  my  heart 
and  soul.' 

But  it  is  not  necessary  to  debate  the  subject.  All  his  writings 
prove  that  he  was  a  religious  man,  reverent,  humble,  prayerful, 
charitable,  conscientious ;  otherwise  his  whole  life  was  a  sham,  and 
he  himself  a  hypocrite.  Doubtless,  like  many  others,  he  passed 
through  periods  of  doubt  and  perplexity ;  but  his  faith  in  a  divine 
Providence  began  at  his  mother's  knee,  and  ran  through  all  the 
changes  of  his  life.  Not  orthodox,  not  a  man  of  creeds,  he  was  a 
man  of  simple  trust  in  God,  living  in  the  consciousness  of  the 
presence  of  the  great  Creator,  and  one  whose  heart  was  ever  open 
to  the  impressions  of  the  unseen  world. 


"He  was  one  whom  no  sectarian  could  claim  as  a  partizan,  yet 
one  whom  every  true  Christian  could  recognize  as  a  brother.  To 
the  poor  widow,  five  of  whose  sons  had  been  killed  in  battle,  and 
the  sixth  severely  wounded,  he  said:  'I  pray  our  Heavenly  Father 
may  assuage  the  anguish  of  your  bereavement.'  These  pages 
might  be  filled  with  quotations  of  a  similar  character,  but  surely 
this  is  not  necessary. 

"When  the  unbeliever  shall  convince  the  people  that  this 
man,  whose  life  was  straightforward,  truthful,  clear  and  honest, 
was  a  sham  and  a  hypocrite,  then,  but  not  before,  may  he  make  the 
world  doubt  his  Christianity/' 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILUNOIS-URBANA 


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